Online Real Estate School
The first step in starting a real estate career is to sign up for real estate agent school, also known as pre-licensing real estate courses. We have curated the best online real estate school list on the web!
Every state in the US has a different licensing authority, which means you need a real estate license specific to the state where you want to work. If you want to work in more than one state, you’ll have to have more than one license (that’s rare except in cases where people live close to a border, like Washington DC / Northern Virginia).
There are a variety of online real estate agent school options (there are only a few classroom real estate school providers left in the US, with a few states being the holdouts). Most people prefer the convenience of the online real estate school approach because it allows you to work at your own pace.
Different states also have different terminology when it comes to levels of licensing. Some states call all of their licensees “brokers” and other states separate “salesperson” from “broker” because they have different requirements for the different levels. In the states where there are different levels, they usually require several years of experience and/or more thorough education in order to obtain the higher level of license. Most people start with the entry-level license and that’s as far as they ever need to go. The higher level of license is usually reserved for those who want to open or manage their own real estate brokerage, which only makes sense after you have a few years of experience anyway.
We have relationships with great online real estate school providers around the country. We know there are some states missing from this list because we’re rather wait until we have a school we recommend before posting here. Soon (we hope)!
Alabama real estate school (salesperson pre-license)
Arkansas real estate school
California real estate school
Colorado real estate school
Florida (broker) real estate course
Florida (salesperson) real estate course
Georgia (broker) real estate course
Georgia (salesperson) real estate course
Hawaii real estate license school
Illinois (managing broker) real estate course
Illinois (broker) real estate course
Indiana online real estate course
Iowa real estate school
Kansas real estate school
Kentucky online real estate course
Louisiana real estate course
Michigan real estate school
Minnesota online real estate course
Mississippi real estate school
Missouri (broker) real estate course
Missouri (salesperson) real estate course
Montana real estate school
Nevada real estate school
New York (broker) real estate course
New York (salesperson) real estate course
Oklahoma real estate school
Oregon real estate license course
Pennsylvania real estate school
South Carolina real estate school
Tennessee real estate school
Texas (new license) real estate course
Virginia real estate school
Washington real estate school
Wisconsin real estate course
Wyoming real estate course
Have you found an online real estate school in a state not listed here that you recommend? Please let us know by emailing jon@thesterlingreport.com and we’ll look into it. You get a prize if we decide to work with someone you recommend. 🙂
It’s an important question: How do real estate agents get paid?
If you are considering a career in real estate, one of the first questions you’ll ask is, “How do real estate agents get paid?” The majority of real estate agents in the world are independent contractors who are paid commission. That means no base salary.
The good news is there are no income limits in real estate when you are working for commission. The sky is truly the limit. If you want to make more money, you simply have to sell more houses. There is no cap to what you can make.
I personally know several agents who are making multiple millions of dollars in commission every year. One of them has only been in the business for FIVE YEARS. He’s very good, but it shows you what’s possible.
For people who have never worked in a commission-based job, it can be a little unnerving to walk away from a steady paycheck at the beginning. Believe me when I tell you, IT’S WORTH IT. You should have some cash reserves before you get started in real estate, but you can start getting paid pretty fast with some determination and hard work. (When I got started in the business, I put all my initial expenses on my credit card. I do NOT recommend that for most people, but it worked well for me and I had it all paid off within my first six months.) Also, I didn’t have an online real estate school option back in the day–I had to go to a classroom, which is hard if you have a full-time job.
If you are currently working in a salaried job and you are considering making the move to real estate, here’s one question for you:
Have you ever had to give up something good in order to get something GREAT?
Well, this situation is just like that.
For some nitty-gritty details, I have included a sample scenario:
Real estate agent sells one of her listings for $400,000.
Commission earned is 3%, or $12,000.
Real estate agent is on a 70/30 commission split with her brokerage.
70% of $12,000 equals $8400 to her for that transaction.
Of course, she has to pay taxes and business expenses from the $8400, but it’s still a good chunk of change for one transaction. If she only sells one house like that every month, that’s just over $100K in commission in one year.
Pretty good deal, eh?
Being a real estate agent who works for commission is the best way to do it, but it may take some getting used to. This is especially true if you have parents, significant others, friends, etc. who have never worked for commission and don’t understand how it actually works.
When someone asks you, “How do real estate agents get paid?” you can let them know that you get paid on performance. If you don’t perform, you don’t get paid. The ONLY way real estate agents get paid is when a property sells.
The Keller Williams commission split is one of the most generous in the business. It was created as a hybrid that took the best elements from a traditional commission split and a new commission structure that became prevalent in the 70s and 80s.
To understand the advantages of the Keller Williams commission split, it’s helpful to know the history of the real estate brokerage business.
There are three prevalent business models in the real estate business today and each one has a different commission structure.
The Old Fashioned Business Model
This was the first business model in the real estate industry and it still exists with some of the major US companies today. In this business model, the commission structure is split between the company and the agent. The splits are usually 50/50, 60/40, etc. with the most experienced agents commanding the highest splits and the newest agents having the lowest splits. In exchange for the commission the company keeps, they usually provide support staff, some marketing resources and some training. Finding an online real estate school in this model is rare.
Sample calculation (old fashioned):
Agent sells a $300,000 house.
Commission for that deal to be split between company and agent 50/50.
Commission for one side of the transaction is 2.5%, or $7500.
The company takes $3750 and the agent keeps $3750.
With an average of two transactions per month for a year, that’s $90,000 to the agent and $90,000 to the company.
The Barber Shop Business Model
This model grew very quickly in the 70s and 80s in the US. The general idea is that the agents pay the company a flat fee to rent a desk every month (usually $1500-$2000 a month) and they get to keep 100% of their commission. There is very little staff, training or support in this business model because the economics simply don’t work for the company owner to put much money into the business. Finding an online real estate school in this model is rare.
For experienced agents in the 70s and 80s who had consistent business, this was a great deal! They realized that most of their business was coming from their personal contacts and personal efforts, so paying the company a huge chunk of money every year didn’t make any sense. The big challenges with this model are the lack of training and the fact that if you don’t sell a house for a few months, you still have to pay that monthly fee no matter what.
Sample calculation (barber shop):
Agent sells a $300,000 house.
Commission for one side of the transaction is 2.5%, or $7500.
The company takes $2000 a month, or $24,000 for the year.
With an average of two transactions per month for a year, that’s $180,000 total commission. Subtract $24,000 for desk fees and the agent keeps $156,000.
The Interdependent Business Model
This business model was developed to create a true “win-win” between agents and brokerage owners. The Keller Williams commission split is only one component of a bigger picture. The other components are robust and ongoing education (like Keller Williams Ignite), a company culture that’s so powerful it has been studied by Stanford University three times and a profit sharing system that provides significant opportunities for ongoing, passive income.
The Keller Williams commission split is unique in that the agents receive most of the commission (usually on a 70/30 split), but the company “caps” the amount they take from an agent in any given year. The cap changes from market to market depending on home prices and other factors, but it’s usually between $18,000 and $25,000 in most parts of the US.
Sample calculation (interdependent):
Agent sells a $300,000 house.
Commission for one side of the transaction is 2.5%, or $7500.
With an average of two transactions per month for a year, that’s $180,000 total commission. Subtract $21,000 for the annual cap and the agent keeps $159,000 in commission.
The agent also received some Keller Williams profit share and earns $15,000 that year, which brings the total “cost” of being with Keller Williams to $6000. It doesn’t get much better than that.
(Please note: There are many KW agents who earn MORE than their annual cap through profit sharing, which means Keller Williams is essentially paying them to work there. Amazing, right?)